First female GM in NHL may come sooner rather than later

Noelle Needham was a top recruit in the United States back when she was 15, but that all changed after she tore her ACL, MCL, PCL, and meniscus. She instead was trying to hold on to what was left of her hockey career. She managed to play six more years after earning a scholarship to Minnesota State University, Mankato, before she ultimately had to give up on her dream.

Now 20 years later, Needham finds herself back in the sport she grew up loving, not as a player, but as a rising talent with hopes of becoming the first female GM in NHL history. It seems a lot more realistic now that Kim Ng was named GM of the Miami Marlins, becoming the first female GM in MLB history.

Currently, Needham is the assistant GM for the Chicago Steel in the United States Hockey League (USHL).

"I don't think that there is a cap on what she can do," said Ryan Hardy, GM of the Steel. "I can count on one hand people whose opinion I value as much as hers. And those are some people with very high positions in hockey."

Now, she has one more dream in mind: becoming an NHL general manager.

"I'm going to shoot for it. There's not many GM jobs available,” Needham said. “It's very volatile and organizations view these positions and how they're hired all very differently. But if I were ever given the opportunity, I think it's something that I would really enjoy. And it's something that I would like to do and hopefully be successful at. I have a lot to learn, but if I can continue to put myself in positions to be able to do that, then I'm doing myself the best favor I can."

Source: nhl.com

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